Memoirs of Mrs Bruce Wayne
by Leichelle K
Summary: A little known story about the personal life of Batman AKA Bruce Wayne told by the woman who knew him professionally and romantically. This memoir incorporates Batman The Animated Series, Justice League and Batman Beyond Themes.
1. Chapter 1

I remember the first time I met him. I was a teenager, preparing to go away to college. I remember the strong scent of strength and power as he held me to his massive chest. "Hold on!" he had yelled over the furious inferno that raged around us. I had been trapped in a building during one of Joker's many escapades.

He had saved my life and was gone before I could catch my breath and thank him. He would continue to protect the city and I would go on to college and medical school.

He wouldn't enter my life again until I went to work with my mentor Dr. Leslie Thompkins. I was on my way to Leslie's office when the door opened and I was looking at the most intense and brilliant blue eyes I had ever seen. I suppressed the shiver my body wanted to enjoy.

I vaguely heard Leslie say, "Bruce Wayne, let me introduce you to my right hand, Dr. June Robinson. She had been a Godsend."

He extended his hand to me and said, "Pleasure to meet you Dr. Robinson."

"The pleasure is all mine Mr. Wayne." And indeed it was. All the negative thoughts that had been swimming around in my head about the billionaire playboy had disappeared as he spoke and shook my hand.

J'onn J'onzz would later explain it was my telepathy that allowed me to connect with the real man and not the personified image he created about himself.

Bruce Wayne would smile at me and then continue out of the clinic. The questions began to bombard my brain like an enraged swarm. I didn't trust myself to speak, not sure if I should like or dislike our generous benefactor.

Shaking myself mentally I turned to Leslie, who was smiling at me and handed her the files I had temporarily forgotten I carried. I made it back to my office and finally caught my breath. There had been something familiar yet distant. He was like the kid who yelled, 'Yea I'm friendly and I want to play with you just don't expect it every day.'

I had felt the power, the charisma, and yes the money. That had to be it. My breathing had returned to normal and the logical side of my brain had taken over. Leslie was most likely treating him for an STD and they were keeping things hush-hush.

Shaking the image of Bruce Wayne from my mind, I knew I would never be a part of the circles he frequented. Little did I know that I was getting ready to be part of a circle few were privy to.

Some years later Leslie had decided to retire so she called me into her office to break the news to me. I sensed there was much more she wanted to say but either wasn't sure or completely ready to tell me. We talked about keeping the clinic thriving in the community and continuing to be there for the patients.

"Bruce Wayne will continue to need you, even if he won't openly admit it." I sat dumbstruck by her admission.

"He is a private person. Nothing like the tabloids portrays him. He purposely carries a burden and refuses to share it with anyone. He will ignore your advice, push you and fight you at every turn but you must not back down. I know some day he will come to trust you as much as he trusts me. He is extremely loyal and will do his best to never let you down."

My intuition let me know that the secret we were keeping for Mr. Wayne had nothing to do with scandal or rich people gossip. She was preparing me for a world more dangerous than my medical career could prepare me for.

At her funeral he came up to me to offer his condolences. His eyes had so much sorrow and I shocked us both when I took him in my arms and hugged him as if to draw all the hurt and pain out of him. I kept hearing Leslie's words to me, 'He won't admit it.' To onlookers we looked like two mourners sharing an emotional moment over our dear departed friend but that day my telepathy hit me full force and I knew everything about him and knew that even if Leslie had not sat down and talked to me, there would be nothing I would not do to help him in his mission to keep his promise. When I pulled back from him he looked at me a bit bewildered. I had let him touch peace and it had unnerved him in a way that no criminal had ever or would ever do. He nodded and continued down the row.

Leslie's words would come back to me yet again when I would find him in her old office three weeks later. I had not had the heart to clear her things and I liked sensing her presence if nothing else on days when life had become an out of control wildfire. He had been looking at the pictures she kept on her bookshelf. He tried to hide it but he was favoring his left side. Bane had been in town. Bruce might have broken ribs but I knew I would have to let him be in control of the situation if I was going to treat him.

He spoke first answering my unasked question, "I was so used to coming here to talk to her, I was here before I realized…."

I took him by the hand and lead him into one of the examination rooms. He said nothing while I unbuttoned his shirt and began to ascertain his injury. No broken bones but extremely bruised ribs. As I examined him I steadied my breathing so I could talk to him.

"Leslie told me about you." His quick intake of breath and widened eyes almost caused me to lose my train of thought. I continued on before he could speak, "No she didn't tell me the specifics of your secret, just that you had one. She hopes that you will trust me as you trusted her. I don't need to know the specifics even though I know you go by another name."

He did interrupt me then as I began to apply the bandage to his side. "How long?" It was the softest I had ever heard him speak.

"I've known ever since the funeral. When I hugged you I knew everything, from beginning to end. I had meant to drive out to your home and talk to you but I was still coming to grips with my new power and with the loss of my dear friend."

I finished bandaging his side and took one of his hands in mine. "I miss her too. I know you knew her longer and she was a connection to your parents. I hope to be as much help to you as she was." I silently added that he could trust me but I knew he was a man of action and I would have to prove it and not just say it.

He would thank me for the medical care and I could almost feel the sincerity his eyes gave me. Clark Kent would tell me some time later that for the one superhero without special powers, Batman's eyes could do things that none of them had ever been able to do.

Bruce Wayne would take me to dinner as week later and a month later the Wayne Foundation would give us a grant so large that I could hire more staff for the clinic and open another clinic in the west end of Gotham.

I began to purposely leave my balcony doors unlocked, not that I believed he would have a problem with opening them if they had been but I wanted him to know I expected him and I was ready to prove myself trustworthy. Plus I was ready to meet Batman. I had gotten to know Bruce Wayne quite well, it was time for me to really know this extraordinary man completely.

He didn't disappoint. I understood why criminals feared him. Everything I had ever heard or read paled in comparison as he stood before me. The Dark Knight indeed.

We stood looking at each other. Though my heart beat wildly in my breast I did not let my eyes waver from his stare. I was tempted to reach out with my mind but thought better of it and let him appraise my sincerity at face value.

"Are you injured?" I whispered into the silence.

"No. Come to the house at nine tomorrow." With that he was back out my balcony in a flash and then as if he had never been there he was gone.

I would stand there blinking and replaying the scene to make my brain believe what had just happened. I had passed his test and it seemed it was time to pull me into the circle completely.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day I would meet Alfred and Richard "Dick" Grayson. Alfred would become my sounding board and confidante when Bruce and I would butt heads. We would soon bring Barbara Gordon into our fold and I would treat them all. Every break, bruise and injury I made better. My regard for each of them would increase exponentially as Gotham seemed safer and less scary.

My heart would break when Dick would leave. The tension at the manor had been very thick when I first met Dick. Dick had loved Barbara, but unfortunately Dick had also adopted Bruce's stubbornness. And though in later years they would patch some things up, my dynamic duo would never be the same. Tim Drake would join us and would prove a very capable member of this secret society.

I felt Tim was too young but kept my own counsel, though I am sure at times my disapproval did show on my face. I had hoped that Bruce's time away in Metropolis and around Superman would enlighten him to the fact that there was more than one way to accomplish a goal.

Then Susan Maguire would enter Bruce's life. We were actually hopeful especially once Bruce seemed ready to leave Batman behind and lead a normal life. The "first" Mrs. Bruce Wayne would prove to be a creation of Poison Ivy and not a human at all. All records of that marriage would be annulled and Bruce would go back to his usual self.

When Bruce and Barbara began to see each other in and out of costume I prayed that this would be the completion Bruce had hoped to have in his life. Unfortunately Joker's kidnapping and manipulation of Tim Drake would be the undoing of us all.

Bruce would forbid Barbara and Tim from taking up the mantle ever again. Tim's rehabilitation would be a long, slow and hard process. Of course many years later we will learn that the Joker still wanted to plague Batman by any means possible but I'll talk about that later.

When Selena Kyle died, Bruce seemed to lose himself in many ways. He spent more time with the Justice League and less time with Alfred and me. I was glad to be with Alfred when he took his last breaths and again be a shoulder for Bruce. That had brought all of us together for a time. I had been keeping in touch with Nightwing but with Bruce disbanding the Gotham Guardians, as I called them, Tim and Barbara made themselves scarce when the funeral was complete. When Dick finally took his leave, Bruce looked at me again with those same eyes and I didn't hesitate to give him what he needed.

We would marry quietly with Clark Kent and Lucius Fox in attendance. This freed Bruce up greatly and since he was getting older he was glad to put away the playboy image. He didn't call me Mrs. Wayne and I still had not called him Batman.

As the city changed so did everything else. My clinics would become hospitals and I would take a position at the Watchtower overseeing medical treatment for the growing league of superheroes. I would take up my position again when the second Watchtower was built after the invasion by the Thanagarians.

I am not sure why we never divorced. We didn't not love each other but just as Leslie had told me so many years ago, 'he carries a burden he will not share with anyone but himself.' I had thought when Princess Diana, the mighty Wonder Woman, showed interest in him that he would have no problem releasing our pledge and being with her. After all I was just a telepath, a fact that J'onn put to work regularly, this was the fantastic Wonder Woman. But the more Diana pushed for a relationship the more I was his get out of jail free card. I became his secret excuse not to let anyone get close to him.

I was not jealous or hurt. Which as a woman surprised me a little. We had decided not to have children even though I was still able to bear them. After living a millennium in a different dimension I recognized we made a mistake. But not having a true childhood can do that to a person. I would implore him to be with Diana, find some happiness. But each time Batman would answer, "no." Bruce would have answered differently but I could never ask him to be less than what he is.

As the Justice League would grow and change so would all of us. I wept when J'onn and Supergirl left us. I would follow suit a year later. A world in a dimension I didn't even know existed would request me to come to their time and help them in their struggle. Time passed differently in this world granting me a semi-immortality state. I would spend an entire 24 hours with Bruce and he would finally tell me in his own way that he would support whatever decision I made.

Bruce held a lovely memorial for me, yes I was able to watch from my dimension and I had hoped he would finally move on.

I lovingly watched him age and change. My heart was heavy as he released control of his company to Derek Powers and my heart broke when he hung up the Batman suit to never be used again. It had been a day of devastation when he had picked up that gun. He would retreat to the Wayne Manor and become a recluse even to himself.

The war years ended in my dimension and I was able to watch over Bruce more actively. I had laughed when he bought a dog and had cried tears of joy when Terry McGinnis entered his life. Unbeknownst to both of them and to my joy again, Terry would be Bruce's son, with the DNA to prove it. I had hated Project Cadmus for so long but this had allowed me to forgive many of their sins.

Though Terry was not "produced" in the usual manner and his background was different from Bruce's I would come to love him as my own across the ages.

One of the stipulations of my immortality was that I could only get involved in human affairs once a year. I had already used my stipend for The Flash. Wally would always hold a special place in my heart, the kid brother you always have a soft spot for.

When Joker reared his ugly head again I could almost not watch. Terry had proved up to the challenge and I know Bruce couldn't have been prouder. It was good to see Tim, Barbara and Bruce in the same room again.


	3. Chapter 3

The years would progress swiftly and Bruce would continue to pour himself into Terry. My heart wrenched each time Terry and Dana would fight, break up then make up only to start the dance again. Bruce's health was deteriorating and I knew my trip back to Gotham was at hand.

Terry and Bruce's arguments were causing me to remember Dick and Bruce's arguments. Bruce was trying to convince someone that his way was the only way. My poor Bruce, even after all these years he had still never recognized that it was acceptable to be loved and allow another the share your burdens.

Terry was starting to pick up some of Bruce's bad habits. But my hope was renewed when I saw the engagement ring Terry had picked out for Dana. Now was the time. While Amanda Waller was taking Terry down memory lane it was my turn to take an old friend down memory lane as well.

At first he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "I'm not a hallucination." I approached him slowly letting his eyes and brain process what he was seeing. "I've been watching you for years. You've done very well. Though for one of the most intelligent men in the world you still not very smart."

"It was my burden. My pain to bare, no one else's," Bruce replied.

"Not even being part of the Justice League and all the people who wanted to be there for you seemed to be enough. I think you had become so used to being Batman you actually became content in not being anything else."

"Look I didn't come here to fight or take sides. Terry is learning the truth about himself tonight. It's time to make peace with him. He and Dana are going to be just fine. She's known who he is for a while now and much as I think she'd come to love you, you don't need to be here when they say 'I do.'"

That seemed to wake him from is shocked state. "Terry's going to propose?"

"Yes," I answer softly.

"So now what?"

"Would you like to blow this popsicle stand and go away with me?" I proceeded to tell him about what my new world had to offer and all he would be allowed to do.

He seemed to contemplate this for a moment. Ever the analytical mind, working every angle. Even now in his advanced age he was still impressive to watch.

"This is nothing like Ra's Al Ghul offer some years ago. No insanity and definitely no sacrificing another's life so you can continue to exist."

"I'd be able to check in on Terry from time to time?" Was his first question.

"Yes and his son and his son's son, etc." Did I really want to spend all eternity with Batman? I did something I had always wished I had done when I had first been entrusted with his secret. I used his real name.

"Batman, do you trust me?"

He raised his eyes to my level and the sincerity and trust that his eyes gave me caused my heart to increase in speed. I had almost forgotten what is was like to be human.

"Never in all our years did you call me Batman. Now I…"

"Just say yes." I was now holding his hand. We'll say good bye to Barbara and Tim together. I've watched Terry develop into a wonderful young man. I'll leave him to you tonight and I'll be back tomorrow so we can plan our get-away."

"You make it sound like a vacation," he says wryly.

I smiled. I knew I had him. Of course I had peaked into the future but there was no reason to tell him that. Terry would be back at any minute. I didn't want to be here. I wanted to meet him tomorrow after he and Bruce had talked and buried a few of the hatchets that were still laying around.

"So I will pick you tomorrow?"

I tried to ignore his smirk as he thought he had me. Batman was still just a man after all. An exceptional man but still a man.

"Yes, tomorrow." I vanished just as Terry came down the staircase. J'onn J'onzz met me at the Fortress of Solitude and it was nice to relive a few the good old days.

I arrived in the early afternoon with Barbara and Tim and it was a bittersweet reunion. I was overjoyed to meet Terry and Dana and they seemed to take all that we were planning to do rather well.

Bruce Wayne's memorial service was beautiful. All the contributions he had provided over the years had touched so many lives. Too bad we couldn't disclose that he was Batman, that would have meant at one time or another he had touched the entire world.

I allowed him to watch as he acclimated to his new state of being.

"You've been existing this way since you left the Watchtower?" he asked.

"I haven't just been floating about. I've been putting my talents to good use. You aren't the only one that has saved a world a time or two."

Bruce actually laughed. Oh how I wish that all the people that had ever loved him could have heard it. Alfred always said Bruce had a laugh in him somewhere. It seems it only took immortality to bring it out.

Even though I had looked ahead to what Bruce's decision would be I hadn't gone beyond that. I had feared that we would have hovered over Terry and Dana for all eternity but Bruce would prove me wrong. He was there when Terry and Dana welcomed their first child and we were there when Terry would pass the mantle on to his son.

Bruce didn't want to return after that. He felt satisfied that all he had worked for, all he had sacrificed for, all he had promised had finally been fulfilled. I think he would have cried if he had been able to.

I could feel his peace. I gave him a moment to adjust to this new feeling.

"All my life I had wanted this. I…" he began.

"I know. So many times before you were ready I wanted to bring you here, give this gift to you. You sometimes suffered, what I thought was needlessly. How many times I wished I could take some of your pain for you. Help you with your relationships with Dick, Barbara and Tim."

He made a sound that resembled a snort, "Don't sell short what you did do for me, for all of us. I shall forever be grateful for all you and Leslie did for us. You handled all our medical needs and then some. Leslie would have been proud of you and I know Alfred loved you like a daughter. I don't regret any of my decisions. None."

As usual he had the last word and if it was possible for an immortal to feel humble, his words were causing that reaction in me.

"So Mrs. Wayne, you ready to get to work?" He had rendered me speechless again with the title.

"Lead the way Mr. Wayne. Let's see what that wonderful mind of yours can achieve out here." And he did. Amanda Waller had been right about one thing, there would always been a need for Batman.


End file.
